Survival Food Series: 3 Ways To Naturally Make Yeast

Without yeast, our lives would be void of many of our day-to-day products. Getting back to the basics and learning how to make yeast yourself will give you an invaluable skill to hold onto and share with others. Using different produce such as oranges, potatoes, herbs and grains is not only a great science experiment, but a way for you to play around with the flavors of your favorite bread recipes.

Where would we be without the discovery of yeast? Fresh, puffy bread would be non-existent, and need I not mention the fact that beer, wine and alcohol products would cease to exist. Of course, all yeasts were not created equal. Some yeasts are made for making bread and baked goods, and some yeasts are made for distilling spirits.

Knowing ways of making this essential prep would be beneficial to anyone trying to live off of the food supply they have. Grains, vegetables and fruits are three of the easiest ways to find yeast. Some have even used herbs to get their yeast.

How Does It Work?

Did you know that yeast is actually alive on plants? As long as it has warmth, moisture, and food to grow, it will stay alive. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, and all edible sources have yeast living on it’s surface. As a result, using different produce will add to the flavor of the bread you make. Simply by soaking the produce in water, you can separate the yeast and use the water it is floating in. The water and yeast actually start the fermentation process that when mixed with flours creates that desirable baked good we love so much. This fermented concoction is also called a bread starter by some.

By using this method, however much water the recipe calls for is how much water to soak the fruit, vegetable, herb or grain in. Those that have used this method rave about raisins as being one of the best fruits to use for acquiring yeast.

Grains

In the book, The Little House Cookbook, Ma Ingalls explains how she ferments her bread dough using what she has on hand,”You start it by putting some flour and warm water in a jar and letting it stand till it sours…”Then you use it, always a little. And put in the scraps of biscuit dough…and add warm water, and cover it and just set it in a warm place.”

Because yeast is already present on grains, when combined with water, the yeast will separate from the grain. As a result of the soaking process, the combination will begin to ferment.

To create this starter you will need:

1 1/4 unbleached all-purpose white flour

1 cup of warm water

Glass jar with lid or piece of cheesecloth

Mix flour and water in the jar and let stand until the batter bubbles and rises. This may take anywhere from overnight to a week!

Potatoes

Wild yeast naturally lives on potatoes, as well, making this a popular choice for making distilled spirits, such as vodka. According to the article,”Homemade Yeast: Making and Using Yeast For Bread,” the author states that using potatoes to make yeast starters dates back to 4,000 B.C.

Yeast Starter 1

one medium potato, unpeeled

4 cups water

1 tsp. sugar

Boil potato in the unsalted water until done. Drain, but save the water.

Mash potato then add sugar and salt.

Cool to lukewarm, add enough potato water to make one quart of mixture.

Cover and set in a warm place and allow to ferment. Note: If the starter is not rising, you can add a package of store bought yeast to speed up the process (but it will be just as good if allowed to ferment without the added yeast). This recipe is about right for a large family requiring more than one loaf for baking.

Yeast Starter 2

one potato, unpeeled (about the size of a large hen egg)

3/4 cup potato water

2 Tbsp. sugar

flour

Boil potato, drain and save potato water (unsalted).

Mash potato well, and then add potato water, sugar and enough flour to make a fairly stiff batter or soft dough.

Keep in a warm place until fermenting process is complete.

Put mixture in a wide mouth jar and cover loosely–never use a tight fitting lid. In about five or six days it should be ready.

Fruit Yeasts

Many fruits can be used to make yeast for bread. Oranges, apples, grapefruits, grapes and even dried raisins all have traces of yeast on them. Using yeasts from fruits will create different flavors to the breads that you make. Skins of fruit can be used as well as cores of apples and even tomatoes. The only fruits that should be avoided are kiwi, pineapple and papaya. These fruits contain actinidin, an enzyme that breaks the dough down and it creates a sticky mess.

Fruit Yeast Starter

3-4 tbls. raisins (or any fresh or dried fruit)

bottled water

clean jar

Place raisins in clean jar and pour bottled water into the jar until it is 80% full.

Loosely cover the jar and leave at room temperature. This process should take a few days. You will notice small bubbles and “activity” occurring inside the jar.

At this point, all the raisins should be floating at the top. The jar should smell like wine. Once it is done, store in the refrigerator.

*Tip: Adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey or sugar to your mixture speeds up the fermenting process and leads to a better result.

Without yeast, our lives would be void of many of our day-to-day products. Getting back to the basics and learning how to make yeast yourself will give you an invaluable skill to hold onto and share with others. Using different produce such as oranges, potatoes, herbs and grains is not only a great science experiment, but a way for you to play around with the flavors of your favorite bread recipes.

This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on March 2nd, 2011

61 Comments

kat
on March 3, 2011 at 1:58 pm

Can you freeze a yeast starter? I was given some starter by a friend once to make Amish Friendship bread, the theory being that you use some of the starter to make your bread, divide the rest, keep half and give the other half to a friend so they can do the same (the starter will double itself if I remember correctly). So, my question then is, will the starter freeze, essentially making it ‘dormant’? If so, making a lot of starter then maybe freezing it in ice cube trays or something similar, wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Absolutely! You can even freeze yeast and thaw out the amount that you need. Once thawed, the yeast will become active again. There are a lot of people that freeze the yeast water starter (that I discussed in the article) in ice cube trays. It helps them keep a better measurement when they are thawing it out. Happy baking!

You can also dry your starter by spreading it thin on a glass pie dish etc. and leaving it in a cool, dry place for a week or two. break it up and store it in the fridge. Warm water to rehydrate and a day or two to aclimate and it’s good as new.

if you can’t dehydrate yeast, then how to they cultivate yeast then sell it as dry yeast? This blog is very misinformative. I’m gasping as I read some of this stuff… like advising boiling potatoes to use the natural yeast one them (boiling kills yeast), the only way that’s going to work is if your potato gets infected with wild yeast after the boiling – 99% of the time it will get a bacteria rather than a yeast and go nasty. I wouldn’t advice this method. also: “…Some yeasts are made for making bread and baked goods, and some yeasts are made for distilling spirits…” REALLY? you can use yeast to DISTIL spirits? I’d rephrase that…
PS: yeast becomes inactive if dried or cooled. If left without water for about a year, it will die. If frozen in temperatures too low for that strain, it will die. it will most easily die from heat. Most yeasts are comfortable around room temperature, but some can take hotter temperatures.

Active dry yeast is the form of yeast most commonly available to non-commercial bakers in the United States. It consists of coarse oblong granules of yeast, with live yeast cells encapsulated in a thick jacket of dry, dead cells with some growth medium. Under most conditions, active dry yeast must first be proofed or rehydrated. It can be stored at room temperature for a year, or frozen for more than a decade, which means that it has better keeping qualities than other forms, but it is generally considered more sensitive than other forms to thermal shock when actually used in recipes.

I have just started 2 yeast cultures. 1 flour and 1 potato. My question is, after fermentation, do you simply scoop it off the top or use the entire mixture? I have about a half a cup each in a couple of pickle jars. Thanks.

RD, stir that starter up and use a cup or however much you need from the whole mix, not just the “fluff” on top! I read online that if you transfer your starter to a new jar, you can start a new one in the original jar without washing it… the leftover drops will help the new one get going.

Yes, you can dehydrate yeast by make little cakes of starter and drying to small hard cookie shapes. Found this in a book up in Alaska called the “Alaska Sourdough” cookbook. Pioneers if traveling on foot, horseback, or dogsled had to think of lightweight storage and breakage thus the dried yeast cakes. All you have to do to is reconstitute by adding lukewarm water and sit a bit before starting recipe.

Hi everyone ! I am so happy I found this info. Actually thought about making yeast naturally a few days ago to make my bread experiments, since I am new to baking bread. I made one using barley grains, purified water, sugar like 2 spoons ( I think is was too much though :), the other one I dis with 2 Tbs of bread flour , 1 or 2 Tbs of sugar and purified water. I put them in a glass covered with the plastic wrap. Today was the third day or 4th I don’t know. I think the third, anyway the barley had big bubbles like soap and I used it to make dough. I didn’t warmed it up in the microwave or stove because I was afraid to kill it. I made the dough and is resting . I don’t see it rising yet. I did a small piece in the oven just to see if it raises but it didn’t since I just let it rest for about 20 minutes lol! But the taste was pretty good. The flour one has small bubbles so yesterday I added barley grains and today was bubbling more but I want to make sure that really bubbles up so I don’t get my usual hard like a rock bread. Thank you for giving me an advice to make soft crunchy bread by hand and using the starters. is it okay what I did? Thank you. Much love for all the bakers.

Yes, Ruby…there is a lot of good information here! You are right about being careful not to kill the yeast with too much heat…I believe anything over 120f …am sure someone will correct me. ha ha It does take much longer for the dough to rise…I sometimes set mine on the stove over a pan of hot water and it works for me…some people preheat their ovens to 275 degrees and turn it off…then put your bread in…you really can’t rush the rising process…but you do need to keep the dough warm so the yeast will stay active. Good luck & let us know how it turns out!

I have never tried boiling the potatoes to make a starter…but my recipe for makeing the potato yeast bread…says to pour boiling water over raw potatoes and let set overnight…using the potato water to make the sponge. This recipe was handed down to me from my mother and grandmother who were pioneers in OKlahoma and Texas…in the 1860’s/70’s.

Proofing(fermenting) Place starter in 1/2 gallon glass or plastic container, cover container with plastic wrap and pierce with fork to allow gas to escape. Place in warm draft free ares 2 to 3 days; stir several times daily(do not let your starter rise above 95 degrees). After the 3rd day refrigerate and cover with tight lid (not metal) until ready to use. (do not stir your starter with a metal spoon).

Feeding your starter: for every cup removed from your starter you will need to add back to starter 1 cup flour, 1 cup lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let stand 12 hours or overnight at room temperature before refrigerating again.

I have made some very delicious white and wheat bread with this starter.

Warning: if your starter turns purple, grows mold, or has a very bad odor toss it do not use.

Use your starter at least once a week and feed it to keep it fresh or it will go rancid.

I also tryed drying the starter at room temperature it did not take, will have to experiment with that a little more.

Cathy: Do you have the complete recipe for the bread, using your yeast starter? I am starting my yest starter , but am confused as to the ration of starter in a recipe. I always use the same recipe for making my white or wheat bread, however i am sure the ratios are a bit different using the starter?

It depends on what you want to make the starter yeast from. In the article I suggested three different ways of catching the wild yeast. Try each out to see which method is best for you. The first yeast starter I made was with raisins. All you need is 3-4 tablespoons, a jar and some bottled water. Allow it to sit undisturbed for a few days. When you begin seeing bubbles or activity then you know that your yeast cultures are present.

I’m wondering if I can use organic dry yeast to make a fresh yeast product. I’m actually interested in making something high in b vitamins for my organic dairy goats! B vitamin supplements are just too expensive for 9 goats. All the supplements I can find to purchase are crazy expensive and they always add things I don’t want to give my goats (even the organic ones) Any ideas?

Hi, I m trying to make fruit yeast water with peeled , diced apples . As soon as i add water to apple slices , the apple slices float. Some part of the apples are not inside the water . Is it normal ? Do i have to turn the apple slices upside down everyday?

I’m really interested in making my own yeast starter. I can’t find organic active dry yeast anywhere. I’m confused though. I can find various sites talking about how to make a starter but how do I use it once it’s ready??? No one seems to explain this although I do see one commenter said 1 cup of starter would require a reduction of the flour and water in a recipe by 1/2 cup each. I assume this is for the starter made with flour?? What about one made with raisins?

This is stupid. you say “did you know that wild yeast grows on potatoes” but in both recipes you boil the potatoes and kill all the yeast. This means you are just using the mashed potatoes as food for yeast in the air and not actually using the yeast on the potatoes.